Annual Report 2002 – 2003

Webmaster, Botanical Society of America

To be presented to the Botanical Society of America Business Meeting

July 29, 2003 – Mobile Alabama

  1. Overview of Changes

In October 2002 the Executive Committee agreed that the position of Webmaster be shifted to the business office under the position of the Executive Director. We (Scott Russell and I) began transfer of duties to a business office function in November of 2002. This process is approximately 80% complete for the main BSA site. We have completed the process for the BSA conference site and are about 50% complete on the American Journal of Botany site. I’d like to thank Scott for his support and encouragement in this process.

The Executive Committee also considered the importance of the BSA websites to the Botanical Society as a means of moving towards its mission of promoting the science of botany. It was felt we have the base and potential to provide a strong support system for the science and as a means of supporting plant/biological/botanical education. It was agreed we would alter the format of the main BSA site and provide a vibrant and colorful image for the science of botany. It was also agreed we would seek to expand services for members. A highlight to date came in early June when we added access to the American Journal of Botany archives (1914 – 1997) by providing a link through the main BSA site to JSTOR.

As part of the process, it was felt the Webpage Committee, the Education Committee/Teaching Section and all the sections would need to become active as a support system for developments undertaken by the business office (the non-botanical folks). I’m pleased to say the Committee is becoming involved and that the pace of development will increase over the coming months.

  1. Statistics – BSA site

When viewing statistics, it is important to remember that the website is a tool with two main purposes: 1.) It acts as a means of storing and communicating information to the BSA membership; and 2.) It acts as a medium for the dissemination of information that supports our wider mission. Consider the fact that the vast majority of people visiting our website are not botanists. They are coming to research, explore or find out something about botany. The website’s job, if it is aimed at our mission, is to promote botany by getting people to the website and having them stay and explore what we/it has to offer. Over time our goal is to ensure more people are coming to the site, they are visiting more pages and they are staying longer.

For the month of June the Botanical Society of America’s website had 423,993 successful hits (50,813 visitors). The “successful hits” trend for the period January 2002 through June 2003 is highlighted in the figure at the right. The trends for all visitor related statistics are similar.

The June of 2003 the site registered 3.51 gigabytes of data downloaded by visitors. This represents the highest usage of the site since its establishment. The previous high was June of 2002.

As we reintroduce the tracking of statistics as a webpage feature we will also look to other meaningful indicators that the site is supporting our mission. For example:

  • In June the average length of stay per visitor session increased by 19% on the time registered for May. If people are staying longer, hopefully they are learning more and we are promoting botany.
  • In May 57% of visitors entered and went on to more than one page. In June this increased to 70%. If they are going to more pages within the site hopefully they are …..

The BSA office team is excited about developing the BSA with the involvement of the committees and sections. The potential and possibility for establishing a base that can create impact on our mission (and the promotion of the science of botany) is botanically limitless.

Website statistics are now online in the reports section of the website at:

  1. Statistics –Conference and American Journal of Botany
  1. Conference site activity:

June 2001June 2002June 2003

Visitors3,9677,0461,752

Gigabytes Transferred1.171.56.78

We have established the Botany 2004 website at:

  1. American Journal of Botany activity:

We are in the process of establishing these numbers for the 2002-2003 year. The results will be posted with other BSA web statistics as noted above.

We currently have 1505 members and 182 institutions activated for online connection to the American Journal of Botany.

  1. BSA Online Teaching Images

Collection of information for this site has also lapsed over the past nine months. As with all other web statistics, these will soon be posted on the BSA site. It is, however, important to note that this site will form a vital component as we continue with the development of the main BSA site. You’ll note that one of the features of the revised main site is that all images have one-line explanations that appear when the cursor is over the image. All images also link to a botanical explanation for that specific image (most currently link to the cover story that appeared in the American Journal of Botany).

Over the next few months we will add information alongside each image in the collection and ensure the online teaching images are mentioned at the final explanation page for each image link.

With this in mind we need more high quality images. Please, if you have images you are willing to share, let us use them to promote botany through the BSA website and Online Teaching Images.

  1. Added Features

Over the past nine months we focused on development for members and institutional subscribers by adding the following features to the website, many of which had been in the planning for some time:

  1. Online payment for dues, subscriptions and the purchasing of BSA paraphernalia.
  2. Established and connected a new BSA database and connected it to the website as a platform for development.
  3. Access to the archives of the American Journal of Botany (JSTOR).
  4. Revised the Membership Look-up function and connected it to the BSA database.
  5. Established a “Review & Change Your Details” component. This will hopefully eliminate data entry errors (at least the ones we make).
  1. Future Concepts

For the vast majority of BSA members the web is a viable tool for communication. For some it is not. We need to cater for both groups. I’m aware that mail outs have caused us (the Society) many problems in the past. Voting this year is one such example. Everything was lined up and people still didn’t get ballots until after the cut-off date. We are currently exploring ways in which the people can register to vote online. By doing so well save on postage, paper and having to rely on a mail system (bulk post) that doesn’t seem to do the job. With the money saved we can shift to “faster snails” for the members who are not able to access the Internet.

Mail outs on the website, it’s a thought worth considering? Please feel free to put forward ideas. Ideas will be assessed in regards to potential impact on the mission, our ability to provide the support (do the work) and the BSA’s ability to fund the initiatives. Please note: there is now a secure section on the site for the development of BSA “members only” activities (i.e. places for discussion of items that impact on the BSA).

  1. Summary

The BSA office team acknowledges all the work that was completed before we began our efforts on website developments and are pleased the structures were put in place to build upon. It feels like we have come a long way in nine months. All the same somehow it seems as if we are just getting started. I believe we have the potential to create significant impact on our mission through the use of the BSA website as a tool. In doing so we will need the support of the sections, the committees and the members (the people with the botanical knowledge).

The BSA office team is excited about the future and we look forward to working with you all in the year to come.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Bill Dahl